This is the temple where Rev. Master Jiyu came in 1962 and the home temple of Master Seck Kim Seng who was her ordination master. I arrived here last afternoon having been met at K.L. airport by two women volunteers from this temple. One I had met previously in England in 2001 when she came with the Abbess, Seck Lee Seng, for the celebrations at Throssel in that year. What a jolly pair! After the usual greetings and luggage handling, everybody insists that I do not carry anything, we set off in the modern air conditioned car.

For as far as one can see there are Palm tree plantations, palm oil is extracted from the fruit of these trees. The roads are three lanes each way, fast moving and not too crowded. It took about two hours to drive to Malaka (I have seen that spelled several ways). No sooner had we arrived and I had made the customary bows to the main altar and bow to Master Seck Lee Seng (and had a shower) and we were off for a meal at a vegetarian restaurant. There were the five Chinese male monks who live here, several lay women, who either live here or are volunteers, and an elderly Chinese monk who was here for the Wesak Celebrations which happened the day before. Seck Lee Seng was there too of course who presided over the ordering and distribution of the food. There is so much I could write about from just being here 24 hours. There seem to be so many people around just in the kitchen alone. Gradually I am getting used to faces, know who speaks English, know who (more or less) lives here and what time things (generally) start. There is a wonderful family feel here.

As I am on a slow dial-up connection I will not write too much as it might take a long time to ‘upload’ and it is time for bed. I’ll be able to write more tomorrow hopefully. Enough to say thank you to those of you who post comments or have sent me emails letting me know you are following my progress. This encourages me to keep going with the writing.

On May 1st we returned to Tokyo to have a farwell feast with Noguchi Roshi, Professor Shimizu and Okabe Roshi at a restaurant near Fukuji-in.

It would be impossible to express in words the gratitude I feel to these people, and to Edera and Iain as well, for my stay and travels in Japan. What I have seen, and more especially the connections that have been made with Dharma family in the Koho Zenji line while here, will remain and carry me forward in my ‘next steps’ on the path of training.

The meaning of being a Grand Disciple of Koho Zenji has deepened as a consequence of meeting fellow Grand Disciples and my appreciation of what Rev. Master Jiyu Kennett did for all of her disciples in coming to Japan to find the Teaching is beyond measure.

Noguchi Roshi and Professor Shimizu read about a calligraphy by Keido Chisan Koho Zenji which belongs to Professor Shimizu. The poem describes sentiments about his mother.

Senpukuji is a small country temple a few miles south west of the town of Tateyama. This is an area which feels a bit like Devon and Cornwall, certainly the small seaside towns of this southern part of Chiba Prefecture are still a popular holiday destination for people from Tokyo. Away from the coast it’s a very hilly place often covered with impenetrable hardwood forests which shelter troupes of wild monkeys.

Senpukuji has not had a resident priest for several years and is looked after by a priest from Kokonoe about five miles away. The temple is still carefully cared for by villagers as is the graveyard on the hill above where there is a plain black memorial to Koho Zenji. Because it’s no longer on the active ‘official list’ tracking this temple down took some real ‘detective work’ and many phone calls (at least seven of them), and we nearly made the mistake of visiting a temple with the same name in nearby Kamogawa.
By Iain.

Rev. Kobayasi, the priest presently responsible for Senpuku-ji, spoke English well which was much appreciated. A number of years ago he visited North America and spent time in San Francisco Zen Center and branch temples in the Bay Area and also in Brazil where there is a large Japanese community. While in the Bay Area he helped Vietnam Veterans financially, this however was not met with universal approval by his colleges. I got the impression that his vocation and movement to compassionate action was strengthened through this experience in San Francisco. We initially met Rev. Kobayasi and his elderly, now retired, father in their home temple. Our arrival was timed well since a memorial feast had just finished and a number of adults and bouncy children were just leaving.

Here he is checking to see if there is a wireless connection so he can look at this Blogger. There wasn’t, however he will be checking into Moving Mountains blogger at his home temple. Sorry it has taken so long to get the pictures up Reverend. And thank you so much for taking us to the temple.

Just before leaving we were given a number of printed Japanese Buddhist books that had been waiting on a shelf for many years to find a good home. On behalf of the Order I accepted them and they will indeed have a good home within the Order. Thankyou.

Raigakuji is a temple about two miles north of Chino in Nagano Prefecture. The site is on a hillside looking westwards towards the higher peaks of central Japan. From the top of the hill, on a clear day, you can see Mt. Fuji far to the south.

Keido Chisan Koho Zenji was the 32nd abbot here, and from many of the things we were told about the temple it was clearly a place he loved very much and which he had strong personal and family ties with (towards the end of her life his mother lived here). When he was first associated with Raigakuji he was responsible for raising funds for a new ceremony hall for the temple to replace one that had been destroyed by fire, and we saw photos of him and people from the local community with this work in progress. In a place of honour on the ceremony hall wall is a big oil painting of him in later life.

The meditation hall at Raigakuji is reached by a staircase leading up the hillside.
By Iain.

Outside of the main hall.